More Temple Mount Antiquities Destroyed

Large-scale illegal construction on the Temple Mount and wholesale dumping of earth in the nearby Kidron Valley resumed this spring. The construction, which is being undertaken by the Waqf, the Muslim religious trust responsible for the Mount, is the continuation of work begun last winter to open what was supposed to be simply an emergency exit for the al-Marawani Mosque, located in an underground area popularly called Solomon’s Stables. Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, though pressed by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Israel’s attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein and Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, has signaled that he will not impede the Waqf’s activities.